


Papa Geoff

by imperiousheiress



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 22:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1795669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imperiousheiress/pseuds/imperiousheiress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Had it been anyone else, anyone at all, Geoff would have been able to handle it. But, of course, it wasn’t. It was Michael, nickname “Rage Quit”,  Jones, and that was way out of the ballpark of “things Geoff can handle”.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Papa Geoff

Geoff was undoubtedly a father figure to all of the Achievement Hunter team. Hidden within Ray and Michael’s “Papa Geoff” jokes was a certain amount of truth; a sense of respect and need for approval, and a love born from knowing that their boss would always have their backs, no matter what. Even Jack and Ryan, older as they were, held him above them as something other than just a boss, and they would come to him seeking advice that they knew would be willingly given.

And Geoff was proud of all of them. He was proud to get the chance to be their mentor and father figure, and he would be proud to have any and every one of them as his sons. He had the utmost confidence that he would legally adopt any of them, given the request.

That statement was true tenfold for Gavin in particular, seeing as Geoff had literally done everything _but_ legally adopt him. As proud as Geoff was to be seen as a paternal icon by the guys, he truly felt like one to Gavin, and he really did think of the boy as his son. Gavin himself had, many times over the years, referred to Geoff and Griffon as his “American Parents” with no small amount of sincerity. And Geoff knew that Griffon felt the same way he did.

Their father-son relationship was extremely obvious around the office. It was seen in the amused looks Geoff was constantly shooting the Brit, and their every interaction. The way Gavin would grin at his annoyance and giggle uncontrollably at the creative methods Geoff employed to get back at him for his meddling and mischief. How Geoff was always amused under his fond exasperation, and just a little bit proud of the ways the Brit would come up with to mess with them.

Along with the fatherly presence came that fierce loyalty to each other. Gavin’s defensive pride in everything Geoff accomplished and unfailing faith in his boss; Geoff’s fierce protectiveness over Gavin and willingness to always, always help him out of a real tight spot, even if he had dug himself the hole. No one was allowed to mess with Gavin except for Geoff and those that had explicit unspoken permission from him. This usually included the Achievement Hunter team, with the addition of the Rooster Teeth crew. But, he never hesitated to put an end to it if things went too far; if a joke made at Gavin’s expense was in a little less than good humour, even if the oblivious Brit wasn’t bothered by it.

Alighting the fiercely protective instinct in Papa Geoff was a bad move, and everyone knew it. They were always careful to keep away from doing anything at all that could make that side of him come out for any period of time. But, sometimes, they didn’t even need to do anything directly to incur his wrath.

For instance, there was one night when Ray took Gavin out for drinks to celebrate some kind of small victory Gavin had managed to take away from their latest Let’s Play. Geoff had arrived at the office the next day and given Ray the death glare when the Puerto Rican had had the unfortunate judgement to go ahead with pointing out the fact that Gavin was not with him. He was met with that cold, hard silence that warned them that things were going to get ugly very quickly.

The blow came when Geoff asked Ray to hang back for a second before heading off for lunch. The rest of the team gave him sympathetic looks and scampered away as quickly as possible to get out of blast radius. When Ray met Michael and Ryan afterwards, he was uncharacteristically silent. When Ryan finally asked him what had happened over their sub sandwiches, Ray had only replied that Geoff had expressed his severe disappointment in him for not stopping Gavin from getting so drunk. The haunted look in his eyes made Michael and Ryan know not to ask any more questions, and Ray would say nothing else about it.

None of Gavin’s actions or interactions with others went unnoticed by Geoff, which is why he picked up on it first. In all honesty, he should have seen it earlier, but the part of him that hadn’t wanted it to be true had given him just enough excuses here and there that he could go on denying it for longer than he probably should have. Actually, he’d probably have had a better time dealing with it if he had begun to acknowledge it sooner, but, as it was, the whole thing only turned up to bite him in the ass at the worst time.

It wasn’t even some kind of spectacular chick flick moment that made him realise. It was an average day at the office. Things weren’t even busy. It was a very stress-free environment, since there were no major deadlines nearing for anything that wasn’t already complete or within the stages of completion. Ray was casually and unabashedly scanning tumblr, Ryan was reading a book on his couch, and Jack was sorting e-mails. Over in their little corner, making what was basically the only noise in the room, Michael had pulled his chair up to Gavin’s desk and was watching the Brit lose over and over again at some kind of mindless addicting internet game, the kind that the Rage Quitter often played. The ginger made some kind of joke about the scenery of the game as Geoff casually gazed at them from his own desk. It wasn’t even that funny, and Ray actually glanced over to see what they were doing just long enough to groan about it, but Gavin was in tears anyways, giggling like a maniac.

And, suddenly, overzealous laughter at a certain redhead’s dumbest of jokes, a collage of meaningful glances and lingering touches, late nights and inside jokes, memories of all of them came rushing at Geoff, and suddenly he was seeing things through a whole new pair of eyes. Everything just clicked into place.

Geoff jolted in his seat, hitting his knee loudly and painfully against his desk with the motion. All eyes were suddenly focused on him.

“ _Fuck me_ ,” he murmured, running a hand through his short, dark hair. He didn’t notice the rest of the team’s curious gazes.

It was Gavin who dared to speak up.

“Alright, Geoff?” he asked, posture laced with concern. Composing himself, Geoff directed a grin at the younger man.

“Yeah, fine, buddy,” he assured. “Just gotta do a better job of not spacing off. I think I’m gonna head for a coffee.”

“Good,” Gavin responded with a nod, smiling at him as he stood before returning his attention to his monitor. Michael’s gaze followed just as intently, and Geoff had to put all his energy towards not exiting the room at a mad dash. He needed a moment.

 

 

The problem followed him home, and he sat in his bed that evening thinking over it. The more he considered it, the more he realised how blind he’d been. It was just… It had been so subtle, all the little things adding into something so much _more_. And so much more problematic for Geoff.

He decided that, had it been anyone else, Geoff would have been fine. If it had been Barbara, he would’ve whooped, if it had been Burnie, or Ashley, or, hell, even Ray, he would have found some way to deal with it. But no, it just had to be Michael. Michael “Rage Quit” Jones, with the gleaming brown eyes, devilish smirk, untameable red curls, and fiery temper to match. Then again, there was no one his Gavin was more likely to fall completely head-over-heels for. But, Michael… Geoff had no way of dealing with this.

 

It didn’t take long for Gavin to realise that Geoff had caught on to his affections, and two days after the man he’d been living with figured it out, the Brit cornered him in the living room of the Ramsey household and pleaded with him not to tell anyone else, especially not Michael. Geoff gave him his word, even though it was something he’d never even considered doing.

Gavin went on as normal, just as he’d told Geoff he planned to during their discussion. Geoff, however, could not do the same. He became hyper-aware of every word Michael and Gavin said to each other, every time they looked at each other, every time they touched in any small way. He read into everything, probably more than there was even anything to read into. He knew it was ridiculous; him finding out had changed absolutely nothing between the two. But he couldn’t help checking out everything from his new perspective. Sometimes, his pseudo-son would catch him in the act and give him a disapproving look, but it couldn’t stop him.

When everything came to a climax, it was like watching a car crash. It was exhilarating and terrifying and Geoff couldn’t take his eyes off it.

It took Geoff a week of unending observation to realise the worst part of all to his predicament. Because, had it been anyone else but Michael, Geoff could have easily just told Gavin to go for it. If it had been anyone but Michael, Geoff could have dealt with Gavin’s broken heart (it’s not like he hadn’t before- but this wasn’t just another of his crushes, it was so much more). But it _was_ Michael, and whatever normal options were available for dealing with infatuation didn’t apply to the redhead. He broke all the rules. And the thing that completely sent Geoff over the edge was the fact that Michael broke this biggest rule of all: he felt the same way Gavin did.

It should have been so _obvious_. Because the Brit could turn their Michael – the one with a hair-trigger temper, the tendency to yell at absolutely everything, and the mouth of a drunken sailor – into a flushed, nervous school girl with a grin so sweet it could make kittens look like bloodthirsty monsters. It was equal parts endearing and sickening watching Michael turn to a fluffy mess at Gavin’s attempts to make him laugh, Gavin’s smile, Gavin’s eyes, Gavin’s _anything_.

And Geoff _had_ to put a stop to it, because everything was already way out of his hands, and the whole ordeal was ridiculous, and, wow, his co-workers were _fucking morons_. Even though every fatherly bone in his body told him not to let Michael anywhere _near_ his lad.

He went for it anyway. If getting them together meant Gavin would be happier, then it was worth the risk. And, on the upside, if Michael were to hurt him in any way, there was no way in hell he’d be able to escape Geoff.

 

 

There was a week of careful planning leading up to the moment they would all later understand as the “turning point”. Geoff plotted out what points he wanted to make, and he had to decide how he wanted to approach it: intimidation? A fatherly lecture? With Ray’s bluntness? He consulted Griffon, who had noticed Gavin’s ailment long before him (and hadn’t told him), on every detail, even if she thought he was putting a little too much though into it, especially since, when the time came, he was going to get caught up and go with his gut anyways. It was hard work, and he felt like he was trying to write the most important speech in his career. In a way, however, he really was.

The delivery came on a Thursday at the end of the day. It was no special day. Actually, it had been kind of uneventful for the office. It had been just plain boring, actually, considering an average day at _their_ jobs. The date would never be remembered in the future, because it simply wasn’t important. It never had been.

The only unusual thing was Michael staying late to finish up work on a couple of videos, and Gavin’s assistance, which consisted of keeping him company. Even that wasn’t a very uncommon picture. Usually, however, Geoff didn’t stay with them. It wasn’t the first time someone else had stayed after hours with them to do their own thing, so neither thought much of it. So, Geoff pretended to be busy, messing around with some footage to look occupied, and scribbling notes for possible future LP ideas.

By the time Michael was finished, Gavin was asleep at his desk (something better, Geoff could not have thought to ask for). The redhead took his headphones off and looked over at the snoring Brit, surprise apparent on his face.

“Oh,” he muttered, reaching out a hand. His fingers brushed the ends of Gavin’s hair before he pulled back, looking at Geoff, who was watching them casually, with something akin to a guilty expression. “Right,” Michael coughed awkwardly. “I was gonna wake him up to take him home, but I forgot you were…”

He trailed off, casting a glance at Gavin. The absolute fondness in that gaze was enough to make Geoff want to barf his mushy heart onto the floor in its liquefied state. Instead, the older man’s eyes flickered between his pseudo-son and Michael before he stood, stare firmly pointed at the curly-haired man.

“Hey, Michael… Let me walk you to your car.”

And something in Geoff’s voice, or the intensity of his gaze must have told Michael that it was not a request, because he nodded mutely and followed his boss out the door.

No words were exchanged until they reached the parking lot, and Michael had been subtly getting more and more nervous in the silence. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he was fidgety by the time Geoff finally looked at him again, the pair standing next to his car.

“You have a good life, Michael,” were the first words out of Geoff’s mouth. The younger man just blinked at him in surprise, not sure how to respond to the statement, or if he was even supposed to.

Just like Griffon had said, form that point on, all of Geoff’s careful planning went straight out the window.

“You come from a good home, you’re still young, you’re in good health, you have a house, well, apartment, you work the best job in the world under a kick-ass boss,” at this he stopped to smirk, “and you have great friends, who love you. You really should cherish that, you know. You’re one lucky son of a bitch.”

“Yeah, Geoff,” Michael said, looking at the ground with a smile that said, ‘ _I know’_.

There was a quiet between them for a long moment, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. Geoff stared up at the stars as he leaned against Michael’s car, letting the background noise fill in for words.

“He’s really something special, isn’t he?” the older man mumbled finally, making Michael look at him once again. Realisation was evident on his face when he figured out to whom Geoff was referring. The dark-haired man pressed on.

“See, here’s the thing I’ve learned about special people; you don’t let them go,” he said. “You hold them in tight with all of your strength and don’t let anything the world has to offer take them from you. How do you think I ended up lucky enough to have all of you assholes?” His smile was fond, and his eyes lit up with affection, like they always did when he insulted his team in that way that showed how much he really loved them. “And what you two have… Whatever’s there, that’s even more awesome, dude. And the sooner you both learn to accept that and grab it by the dick and embrace it, the happier you’re gonna end up.”

Michael’s eyes went wide at the implication behind Geoff’s words and he couldn’t help it when his eyes strayed to the building, picking out the window that was most approximately located where their office would be. His face went scarlet, making his freckles stand out even in the dark.

“I don’t want to see you miss your opportunity because you’re morons.” Geoff chuckled, no humour behind it, eyes burning into Michael with nothing but seriousness. “You’re like these fuckin’ stars. They balance each other out, keep each other in their places. But they also have the potential to explode and suck in the galaxy around them in this huge fiery explosion, sending everything they kept in order at one point to premature graves in this, like, tragic murder-suicide. The only difference between you and the stars is that you have a fuckin’ choice whether or not to let yourself explode.”

Michael’s full attention was on the older man. His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, a nervous gestured. He nodded.

“You understand me, don’t you?” Geoff asked, making sure the boy was paying close attention. And, he had to admit, he went off on a bit of a ramble, there. He might have been a little drunk. That was to be expected, though.

“Y-Yeah,” Michael said quietly, clearing his throat. “I, uh… I do.”

Geoff moved so he was standing directly in front of him, looking down at him with his tattooed arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Fuck it up and you lose your dick,” he stated bluntly. “Griffon has a chainsaw.”

Wide-eyed, the redhead nodded rapidly. After a moment’s hesitation, he shuffled sideways to stare not a little bit longingly at the door, obviously wanting to run straight to the arms of the sleeping boy they’d left inside. But Geoff stood planted firmly in place, not planning on letting him by.

“Go home, Michael,” he said, gaze softening. “It’s late. Think about things a little bit before you go rushing in. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

With a sigh of admittance, Michael dipped his head. A faint pink tint dusted his cheeks, the beginnings of a smile tugging at his lips. He looked back up at his boss, features set in determination. “Thanks, Geoff,” he said.

The _‘I won’t let you down’_ went unspoken.

With a last glance back at the building, Michael pulled open his car door. Before he could get in, Geoff spoke once more.

“Welcome to the family, lad.”

He cast a smile at the boy and turned on his heels to go back inside and retrieve his sleeping idiot without another word. As he walked away, he heard Michael’s engine start, and the sound of tires on pavement as he drove for home just across the road.

 

 

Geoff doesn’t know what he expected when he walked into the Achievement Hunter office that Friday. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t the overwhelming sense of _normalcy_. The only thing unusual was Michael’s niceness towards Gavin. He could hardly even pretend to be mad for more than a couple seconds. He kept casting these bright smiles at the Brit, cracking up at all of his comments. And the rest of them couldn’t even make their normal cracks about the pair. Michael’s complete, unadulterated _happiness_ was just too contagious.

They all went out to lunch together for once. It seemed strange not to, considering the mood that had been surrounding them all morning. They managed to agree on some pancake place and settled into their booth, Lads on one side and Gents on the other, the way they just naturally divided. They got their food quickly and sat chatting and eating, letting themselves relax for a bit.

It happened when Michael leaned close to Gavin, an arm slung over his shoulder, which was probably less of a conscious decision on his part. “You still planning on coming over to mine for bevs tonight?” he asked the Brit, who lit up.

“Of course, Michael!” he answered gleefully.

“Good,” the redhead chirped, proceeding to nuzzle his face into the crook of Gavin’s neck, eliciting giggles from the younger man.

“ _Mi_ chael!” He protested. “ _Stop_ , that tickles!”

Michael burst into laughter, chuckling, “You’re too fun to mess with!” punctuated with the quick press of his lips to Gavin’s right cheek. It was so brief, so natural, that they almost missed it… Until Ryan choked on his drink nearly five seconds after the action had happened.

“W-Wait _what_?!” he coughed, earning the laughter of his co-workers and Jack’s half-pitying slap to his back to try (though not very hard) to stop his choking. The bearded man only looked slightly exasperated, smiling at Geoff’s sigh of “Finally,” next to him as Jack handed a victoriously smirking Ray ten bucks across the table.

“What’s the matter, Ryan?” Gavin asked obliviously, confused at his friend’s sudden outburst. The only way the blond could respond was by casting horrified looks between the two.

Later that night, Geoff received a text from Gavin stating that he was staying at Michael’s all weekend (again), and Geoff’s response was “use protection”, to which he received no further messages.

 

 

On Monday, Michael brought him to work. They came in giggling, Gavin wearing a too-big zipper hoodie that Geoff was sure he didn’t own. It was halfway through the morning when Gavin rolled his chair closer to Michael’s and propped his head on the older man’s shoulder, getting no reaction other than a sigh.

“So, Michael,” he asked, not caring that the rest of the office could hear a conversation that they were obviously not supposed to be involved in.

“Yeah, Gav,” the redhead said with a smile, not looking over at him.

“So are we, like…” the Brit cleared his throat, “goin’ out now?”

The noise in the room stopped.

Michael kept right on, not seeming to notice the abrupt change in atmosphere. Geoff turned a complete 180 in his chair to watch them intently.

“What do _you_ think, moron?” he huffed affectionately, rolling his eyes. “You spent all weekend taking up space in my apartment and we made out, like… I don’t know how much, ok, but it was a lot.”

“Whoa, ok! TMI!” Jack shouted.

“Shut up, Jack,” Ray countered, completely captivated by the exchange between his fellow Lads.

There was a tense moment of silence before Michael spoke again, more quietly this time. “I dunno, do you _wanna_ date me?” he asked softly, gaze fixed on his monitor, even though he had long since stopped doing anything with it.

Gavin’s hand pulled the redhead’s off his mouse, effortlessly tangling their fingers together.

“Of course I do, you doughnut,” he said, matching Michael’s volume, voice dripping with pure, saccharine affection.

“Alright,” Michael started, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and started again. “I mean… Ok, so I guess we’re fucking dating now,” he asserted, announcing it to the room as much as he was cementing it in his own mind. His face flushed, but he was grinning.

“Didn’t see that coming,” Ryan said.

“You’re the only one,” Jack laughed out loud. “I owe so many people so much money; you have no idea…”

“Fuck yeah! Team Mavin!” Ray cheered over Gavin’s cooing at the admittedly adorable shade of red that Michael’s face had become.

“Oh my _god_ , shut the fuck up! I hate all of you. Fucking pricks!” the rage quit master shouted, flustered.

“I sometimes wonder why I ever hired any of you idiots,” Geoff cut in, prompting laughter from his team.

With that, that regular, expected insult, and the normal, unabashed laughter from his team, his belief was cemented. If he’d had any doubts before, they vanished in that moment. Because, with that, he knew that, whatever happened next, they were going to be alright.

 

 

Geoff answered the door that next Thursday night to find Michael, who had showed up to pick Gavin up. To no one’s surprise, he wasn’t even close to being ready to leave. So Geoff invited the ginger in, and he stood just inside the door of the Ramsey house while he waited for the Brit.

“He’s riffling through my ties,” the older man commented on the noise of his pseudo-son banging about in his and Griffon’s shared room. “Probably making a fucking mess too. Asshole.”

Michael’s lips twitched up in a smile, his gaze flickering to where the bedroom was from the doorway, fondness written in his expression.

“Where are you taking him?” Geoff asked, curious but not prying. Michael’s eyes met his again. He gave an embarrassed cough, face heating.

“Eh… you know…” he mumbled, ruffling his curls. “Somewhere nice.”

“I’m not trying to be nosy,” Geoff said kindly. “Just wondering.”

“No, I know,” Michael assured quickly. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to the floor, shuffling his feet, before mumbling a response.

Geoff’s eyes widened when he heard the name of the place.

“Dude,” he said, a little bit dumbfounded. “That’s like, _pricey_ …” and then, for lack of any other way to drive his point home, he added emphatically, “As _dicks_.”

“Yeah, but, uh, I’m paying,” Michael rushed. “No splitting. It’s all on me. He doesn’t even know yet.”

Geoff just shook his head, unsure of what to say. He was… impressed. This was going to be Gavin and Michael’s first real date, a fact that everyone was well aware of. And for Michael to go to such extremes to try and make it special… That told Geoff a lot about how much Michael was willing to put into this – into _Gavin_ – and he was pleased by what he saw. Of course he’d had his doubts, but they were being chipped away one by one as he got to see what he couldn’t believe he’d missed before. How much they really cared about each other, how much they meant to each other, and how they seemed like two halves to the same beautiful thing. And they were happy.

“Hey, Geoff.”

The voice brought him out of his musings, and he met unusually nervous brown eyes.

“I just wanted to thank you,” Michael said, not breaking eye contact. “If you hadn’t said what you did to me, if you hadn’t told me about, well… I never would have done anything. I would have gone on thinking we were both just fine with how it was. And, who knows… maybe we’d have gotten here eventually, maybe not. But, because of you, we’re here now. And this is exactly where I want to be.”

Michael beamed at him, and Geoff couldn’t help but smile back. He’d panicked when he’d found out, and yet it seemed so silly now, and so strange that there had been a time when those feelings had not yet been acted upon.

“And, also, thanks for your… your blessing,” Michael added. “I know what Gavin means to you, and I know how important you are to him, too. And it really means a lot to have your approval. Also, uh, do me a favour and don’t tell him I said all this sappy bullshit.”

Geoff barked out a laugh. This was still Michael, the boy with the fiery temper who yelled at videogames for a living and swore every other word. Their Michael, who had just happened to fall – _hard_ – for his Gavin, and was turned into a teddy bear whenever the lad was near him. It would take a little getting used to, sure, but it wasn’t an unpleasant idea.

Just then, Gavin made his entrance with a victorious, “I found one!” He grinned when he saw Michael, and Geoff had to step between them just because the light they radiated made him fear he was going to burn up getting caught up on the sidelines of it.

“It took you that long to find a single goddamned tie?” he huffed.

“Naw, Geoff,” Gavin flashed his shit-eating grin, a favourite expression of his, “ ‘took me this long to find the perfect tie. You know how it is. Gotta look smashing for my lovely little boy.”

He made his way to Michael’s side and met the ginger’s eye roll with a quick peck on the lips.

“Hi, gorgeous,” the Brit murmured sincerely when he came back up, making Michael’s cheeks turn a light shade of scarlet.

“Hi,” he responded, melting into an affectionate smile.

Watching them as they stood side-by-side in their suits, perfectly complimented by the mere presence of the other, Geoff pictured a scene briefly in his mind where they stood side-by-side in front of an altar with matching clothes and stupid smiles, and, yeah… Ok, he could live with that, maybe. But that was a long ways off, and that was an issue he could deal with later.

“You two are gonna make me barf,” he said for now. “Seriously, get the fuck out of my house.”

Gavin burst into laughter and Michael shoved him lightly, huffing, “Alright, get in the car, you twat.”

Before Michael could follow him outside, Geoff said his name, getting his attention.

“Yeah, Geoff?” he asked, smiling like he didn’t know he was doing it, an air of contentment about him that hadn’t been there for a long time.

“I assume you’re getting dessert to take home, if you catch my drift,” the older man said suggestively. A bright red hue rushed to Michael’s cheeks.

“No problem, go at it, be safe,” Geoff shrugged casually. “Just try to take it back to your place, ok? You can use my house or anywhere else on my property when I’m nowhere near it.”

Michael mumbled a, “Yeah,” eyes trained to the ground, making the dark-haired man laugh. “Thanks, Geoff.”

The tattooed man was about to answer when they heard a honk from outside and looked to see Gavin leaning over and pushing the car horn repeatedly, grinning out the window at them.

“You’d better go.”

Michael nodded and hurried out to his car, scolding Gavin when he got in, something that was met with only laughter. Geoff watched them bicker for a minute before Michael’s expression softened and he put the car into reverse, backing out of the driveway and disappearing down the road. 


End file.
